David Humphreys was born in Derby, Connecticut, in 1752. He was the son of the Reverend Daniel Humphreys and Sarah Riggs Bowers Humphreys. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Yale University in 1771 and a Masters degree in 1774. He taught school briefly from 1771 to 1773 in Wethersfield, Connecticut and then became a tutor in New York from 1773 to 1776. With the outbreak of the Revolution, David Humphreys joined a New York Militia regiment in 1776, and later rose in the 6th Connecticut Regiment to the rank of Brigade Major. He successively became an aide to General Putnam (in 1778), General Nathaniel Greene (in 1780), and General George Washington (from June of 1780 to the end of the hostilities), attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1786, he was back in Connecticut as a member of the State’s General Assembly. He spent long periods of time with the Washington's at their Mount Vernon estate where he was a trusted advisor and confidant of President Washington. In 1791, he was named the first United States Minister to Portugal. In 1796, he was made Minister to Spain, where he developed an interest in sheep breeding, and he eventually introduced the Merino breed into Connecticut, drastically improving the American production of quality wool. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Connecticut militia in reaction to the War of 1812. In a letter of introduction to Benjamin Franklin, George Washington described Humphreys: "This gentleman was several years in my family as aide-de-camp -- his zeal in the cause of his country -- his good sense, prudence and attachment to me, rendered him dear to me; and I persuade myself you will find no confidence which you may think proper to repose in him, misplaced. He possesses an excellent heart, good natural and acquired abilities and -- sterling integrity -- to which may be added sobriety and an obliging disposition." When David Humphreys died in New Haven, in 1818, he was a respected successful citizen, merchant, and writer. David Humphreys was buried at the Groves Street Cemetery in New Haven, CT.
http://www.sonnets.org/humphreys.htm
http://derbyhistorical.org/humphrey.htm
http://www.connecticutsar.org/patriots/humphreys_david.htm